The much-delayed decadal census exercise and the work to update the National Population Register (NPR) are likely to begin early 2025 and the data will be declared by 2026, thus changing future census cycles completely, official sources said.
Probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar, who is at the centre of a controversy over alleged misuse of power and privileges, may be terminated from service if found guilty, official sources said on Friday.
Hours after the Congress party released its first list of 144 candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, Vice President of Congress Media Department Ajay Singh Yadav resigned from his post as fewer candidates from backward classes have been fielded by the party.
The order that was passed less than a week ahead of the first phase of polls scheduled on October 10 throws a spanner in the election process.
S P Singh Baghel and B L Verma who made it to the Union council of ministers on Wednesday are two prominent Other Backward Classes leaders from Uttar Pradesh.
The Maharashtra government will bring an ordinance to grant OBC quota in upcoming by-elections to a set of local governing bodies without crossing the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent cap on reservation, said state minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday.
Saini's elevation as Haryana chief minister fits in with a pattern that has gathered pace in the BJP after the Congress and its allies like the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar began making an aggressive bid to woo the largest group of communities and politically most significant, especially in Hindi-speaking states, by pushing for a caste census.
A bench comprising justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheswari and C T Ravikumar was told by senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, who appeared in the matter on behalf of the state government, that a plea seeking a recall of the order was filed electronically on Monday.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday unveiled a 'development-oriented' manifesto for the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal, promising an income scheme for all families, a student credit card and constitution of a task force to examine the inclusion of several communities under the OBC category.
He also termed the draft notification issued by the state government providing Kunbi certificates to all Marathas as a mere 'eyewash', and said caste is determined by birth and not affidavits.
About the 34-year-old officer's alleged misuse of power, including the use of a private luxury car with a VIP number plate and red-blue beacon, during her tenure at the Pune collector's office, Dilip said she had taken permission for everything.
Amid deepening schisms within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana over poll ticket distribution, party leader Karan Dev Kamboj on Wednesday indicated that the rebellion could have been prevented if Chief Minister Nayab Saini had a 'say' on the allocation process.
The results of the assembly elections will be announced on October 8.
Kharge's remarks came after Modi on Friday said the Congress stands "badly exposed" in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
The judge directed the Delhi police to conduct its investigation "in all fairness" to find out candidates recommended in recent past who might have illegally availed of such benefits.
Dealing with the validity of OBC quota, the bench said, "Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination which only provides formal equality of opportunity. Competitive examinations assess basic current competency to allocate educational resources but are not reflective of excellence, capabilities and potential of an individual which are also shaped by lived experiences, subsequent training and individual character."
'Initially, I didn't think much of him. But when I walked alongside him, I realized he has what it takes.'
'The BJP alliance needs to handle the Maratha quota issue skilfully and address its root cause, which is agrarian distress. Then there is stalled industrialisation. If these issues are addressed, caste fault lines would wither away. But, this is next to impossible in a short span of three-four months.'
'The BJP, already falling short of a strong OBC leader from Maharashtra, will be more than happy to welcome Chhagan Bhujbal in its fold.'
Modi also alleged the opposition grouping will end the reservation given to SC, ST, OBC and give all of it to Muslims.
The government on Thursday announced a 27 per cent quota for OBCs and 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections in the all-India quota scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses from the current academic year, 2021-22.
Probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar has lodged a complaint of harassment against Pune district collector Suhas Diwase with Washim police, an official said on Tuesday.
Accusing the Congress of also abusing the dominant Lingayat community in poll-bound Karnataka, the prime minister further said the grand old party had even abused Babasaheb Ambedkar and were engaged in abusing Veer Savarkar.
Gaikwad, an MLA from Buldhana assembly seat in Vidarbha region, is no stranger to controversies.
A day after OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya resigned from the Uttar Pradesh cabinet citing apathy towards the backward classes, Dara Singh Chauhan too resigned as minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.
Tokhan Sahu, a first-time member of Parliament and a surprise addition to Narendra Modi's new cabinet, has been active in politics for the past three decades, though he has maintained a low profile throughout his career.
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav has successfully poached a number of OBC leaders from the ruling party, including Swami Prasad Maurya, in his efforts to broaden his party's social base beyond the traditional Muslim and Yadav votebank to take it on this time round.
Former Delhi government minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Friday quit the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the Congress, alleging discrimination against Dalit and minority leaders in the Arvind Kejriwal led party.
The Haryana victory will be a morale booster for the Bharatiya Janata Party and increase its bargaining power in the Mahayuti's seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, according to political analysts.
"The re-revised score cards are live now," a senior NTA official said.
Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday staked claim to form the next government in Haryana, hours after he was unanimously elected as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party in the state.
Bora claimed that he had suggested the need for an Assamese leader at the national level of TMC, declaring the residence of Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika at Tollygunge in Kolkata as a heritage site and converting the Madhupur Satra in Cooch Behar to a cultural hub.
The disclosure by Chhagan Bhujbal that he resigned as a minister last November has put a focus on the Maratha quota tightrope the Eknath Shinde-led government is walking amid restlessness in OBCs, with Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray claiming Bhujbal and the Bharatiya Janata Party are hand in glove.
Probationary Indian Administrative Service officer Puja Khedkar, who is at the centre of a controversy over alleged misuse of power and privileges, had submitted a fitness certificate while securing admission to a private medical college in 2007, the institute's director said on Monday.
The Centre on Tuesday asked the UPSC to withdraw the latest advertisement for lateral entry in bureaucracy, amid a row over reservation in the advertised posts.
'Akhilesh Yadav made voters think why is the BJP asking for 400 paar.' 'They understood his words and believed the BJP wanted 400 paar only to demolish the Constitution and end reservations.'
The bench said that validity of criteria of Rs 8 lakh for determination of EWS for future years will be subject to final adjudication of the batch of petitions and listed the pleas for final hearing on March 5.
"A call, 'No Vote to BJP', will be given during the Vidhan Sabha elections if assurances made by union leaders, including the Prime Minister, are not fulfilled shortly," samiti national president Yashpal Malik on Thursday said.
Referring to the demand of giving a Kunbi certificate to all 54 lakh people whose proof of being Kunabi has been found till now, Patil said that they will be given the certificates soon.
'Over the last 65 years the state has seen majority of Maratha chief ministers and cabinet ministers, even Union cabinet ministers.' 'The Marathas have always wielded disproportionately significant political, commercial and social influence in the state and yet they are asking for reservations today.'
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